Monday, February 19, 2007

Photo: My friend Tim, who told me about the Monday night "Recovery Ride", chillaxing and geeking out with his digi-cam after the ride.

This was, in fact, my first-ever group ride. The last time I rode with more than one person, I was still in middle school so it doesn't count. I've known Tim for about 5 years or so, but our paths hadn't crossed in real life in almost two years. A few e-mails here or there, or some IM's on occasion. He told me about this ride that was usually a pretty easy-paced crowd and I decided to check it out tonight since the weather was so nice.

Also, it's been what seems like months since I've put any real miles on the Outlook. I miss my trigger shifters, but the Outlook ran so smooth tonight. I'm really glad I went. I was figuring I'd get a few jeers from the crowd for showing up in bluejeans and riding a mountain-biased hybrid in a pack of road bikes, but they were all really nice.

To top all that off, Mark, who I believe organizes the Monday night rides, also heads up localcycling.com. I knew Kansas City was one of their cities covered as I've had a link to their Kansas City page for a while now. I had no idea I'd run into the guy behind the site, though.

I saw a few people on the ride were using Redline Conquests. I had to refrain from drooling, but I hope to soon be able to build one up. It's kind of my dream commuter bike, capable of handling the less-than-ideal weather and road quality that I encounter, while still being a very capable and nimble road machine.

Yah, I think Redline is more well-known for their BMX bikes. A guy on one of the (car) forums I frequent got a Redline Conquest for Christmas. I'd heard of Redline prior to this, but not the Conquest.

I took one for a spin at a local bike shop. It's a cyclocross bike comparable to a Trek X0 (105 components, brifters, etc) save for the X0's OEM wheelset it a bit nicer unless you go with the Conquest Pro. There's also a Ti frame available but the price is up there.

I'd probably still need to use a mountain bike when the snow gets thick, but the Conquest would get me through almost anything else while still being rugged enough for the blighted streets of urban KC. I'd probably buy a second wheelset to put genuine road bike tires on when I decide to ride with the roadies.

And thanks for the comment on my photos. The two I posted last night were honestly just point and shoot, hurried photos. I didn't even look through the viewfinder for them. I was trying to snap a pic of Tim before he could get one of me, and in the snow, I didn't feel like getting my lens all cruddy, so I just snapped a pic and put it away quickly.

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